Many enthusiastic bodybuilders enter a gym each day with a single mission: Destroy the muscle group on today's agenda. They tackle each exercise, training to failure with maximum weights. They lose track of time, reps, and sets, allowing themselves to be one with the weights as long as their bodies can handle it. They limp out of the gym, wholeheartedly proud that they have annihilated the muscle group. They have their protein shake, and crash for the evening.

When they awake the next day, the quickly realize they may have overdone it in the gym the day before. They are feeling lethargic, run down, and it's obvious to them that their central nervous has yet to recover from yesterday's marathon training session. They might miss the day's training session, or perhaps hit the gym anyway, and go through the motions on the next body part when the body is still hurting from the previous days' movements.

This could have been avoided, of course, if the bodybuilder in question had chosen to train intelligently, in a controlled fashion. We are not machines. Rather, we are complex chemical beasts with limited training and recovery abilities, dependent upon our levels of rest, nutrition, and genetics. When bodybuilders enthusiastically attempt to replicate the training programs of professional athletes, or just plain train all out haphazardly with zero regard for overtraining, they often discover they go beyond what their body can handle.

The key to avoiding this is to use just as many exercises, of the correct variety, as are required to effectively stimulate the muscle group without overtraining. Select 3 to 4 movements for 3 to 4 sets each. Use a spotter and train to failure on the last 1 to 2 sets of each movement. Then, after an hour of training and 12 to 16 sets, call it a day. If you still have energy remaining, that is a good thing! It means your body can begin the recovery process sooner, rather than later. Remember, your body needs your valuable resources for the recovery process as well. Train hard, but train smart - don't go beyond your physical limitations.